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DOOM: The Movie update

Universal releases new photos and info from the upcoming film based on id Software's classic shooter.

"DOOM." "Movie." "The Rock." Say these words to ten different gamers and you'll probably get ten different reactions. The upcoming DOOM movie from Universal Pictures has been the topic of much conversation since it was announced that Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. former wrestler The Rock) would be starring in the film adaptation of id Software's classic videogame series. To date, there hasn't been much official info released on the film, but Universal has now released some a few stills and some bits of information, giving us at least a small idea of what to expect in terms of story, cast and crew.

The basic premise of the film places the characters in the year 2145, the same year as the recently released DOOM 3 videogame. Forgoing the Martian setting from the game, a group of marines is sent to a distant (unspecified) planet to secure a science lab under attack from creatures of unknown origin. In addition to The Rock as Sarge, the film also stars Karl Urban as John "Reaper" Grimm, the formerly nameless space marine who acts as the film's central character. It's the biggest role to date for big role for Urban, previously seen as Eomer in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as major roles in The Bourne Supremacy and The Chronicles of Riddick. The film also stars Rosamund Pike (Die Another Day) as Dr. Samantha Grimm, as well as DeObia Oparei, Ben Daniels, Raz Adoti, Richard Brake, Al Weaver, Yao Chin and Dexter Fletcher. (captions below provided by Universal.)

Sarge (The Rock) and Destroyer (DeObia Oparei) enter a corridor with ventillation ducts overhead. Suddenly Destroyer is spooked by something in the duct and falls to the ground firing into the duct-work as he falls.

The Kid (Al Weaver) emerges from the Ark into the Wormhole Chamber of Olduvai and promptly pukes in front of the rest of the squad.

The Kid (Al Weaver), Sarge (The Rock) and Destroyer (DeObia Oparei) in the corridor from Airlock to Carmack's lab. Sarge tells Destroyer to shoot Portman in the knee if he gives him trouble.

Although the movie has traded the Martian setting of the game for an unspecified planet, the photos show a setting not far off from the dark futuristic settings of DOOM 3. In a nice nod to the developers, one of the scientist characters has been named after id Software lead programmer John Carmack, as alluded to in one of the captions above.

Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak (Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds), Doom technical crew includes visual effects supervisor Jon Farhat (The Nutty Professor, The Mask) and creature FX supervisor John Rosengrant (Terminator 3, The Lost World). The film began shooting in Prague in October 2004, and is currently scheduled to hit theaters on October 21, 2005.